Police search for leads in Sunday homicide

Violence touches storeÂ?s manager a second time

Violence touches storeÂ?s manager a second time

SOUTH BEND Â? Authorities Monday were reviewing evidence and developing leads but had no announced suspects in connection with the early Sunday morning shooting death of a 28-year-old South Bend man in the parking lot of a northwest-side gas station.

Anwon Davis died several hours after he was shot about 4:20 a.m. as dozens of people gathered outside Always Open at 1401 N. Bendix Drive, authorities said.

The location is a popular early morning hangout for bar and clubgoers after closing time, said store manager Gurbachan Â?PappuÂ? Singh.

SinghÂ?s brother, Pritam Â?SamÂ? Singh, was killed Dec. 30 during a robbery at the SamÂ?s Food Market convenience store on Lincoln Way West.

So for the second time in less than six months, Singh talked about homicide, pausing to select the words for how the violence has affected his family life and his business.

Â?What can I say? I think life is not worth nothing for them,Â? Singh said. Â?People donÂ?t care about anything.Â?

The convenience store closes between 3 and 5 a.m., Singh said, but crowds still come, and many people continue to drink.

About 25 cars were outside the store at the time of the shooting, according to a South Bend police report.

A man standing next to a black car fired two shots, which caused the crowd to leave the parking lot in a number of different directions, according to the report.

Davis was taken for treatment at the hospital, where he died between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., his aunt said.

Â?Considering there was that many people in the crowd, somebody saw something,Â? said police spokesman Capt. John Williams.

Singh, 40, has called police to help disperse the crowds, and squad cars often have camped out near the store. Most gatherers are not involved in anything sinister, Singh said, and fights were few.

The last crowd-related issues happened about three years ago, Singh said. A family friend of Singh working as a clerk at the store was severely beaten during a robbery attempt in late 2004.

Randy Davis, 20, lives behind the convenience store and said the late-night gatherings have been going on for about a year.

Â?TheyÂ?ve always done this,Â? Davis said. Â?(Management) used to call the cops and scare them away, but I think they just stopped caring Â? theyÂ?d just come back anyway.Â?

Police were reviewing the storeÂ?s surveillance tapes as they tried to piece together what happened to Davis.

DavisÂ? death was ruled a homicide Monday, according to a news release from the St. Joseph County ProsecutorÂ?s Office.

St. Joseph County Coroner Michael OÂ?Connell did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday.

Sunday wasnÂ?t the first time Davis had been shot. Davis was wounded in the left side of the chest Oct. 25, 1997, at a social club at 2802 W. Western Ave. in South Bend. He was one of five people shot and injured at that location. No one was killed.

Davis also has had several run-ins with police. Since 1997, he has been arrested 30 times, according to St. Joseph County police spokeswoman Jaimee Thirion.

His most recent arrest was Feb. 1 of this year for resisting law enforcement, false informing and operating a vehicle without a license, Thirion said.

Many of DavisÂ? arrests were for traffic violations, most of which were for operating a vehicle without a license or with a suspended license. HeÂ?s also been arrested for drug possession, criminal trespassing and parole violation.